


Alternatives

by Bug_53



Series: Commissions from WildeHopps [2]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Dreams and Nightmares, F/M, Family, Gen, Marriage, Parenthood, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-30
Updated: 2020-01-30
Packaged: 2021-02-24 15:54:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22480498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bug_53/pseuds/Bug_53
Summary: (This story was written by Cimar of Turalis/WildeHopps on commission for me.)Judy wonders what having a kit with Nick would be like. Nick reminds her that they're still not quite ready for such a step yet, but Judy still has her dreams. But she never expected to get what she wanted overnight.
Relationships: Judy Hopps/Nick Wilde
Series: Commissions from WildeHopps [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1932664
Comments: 8
Kudos: 77





	Alternatives

Judy drummed her fingers against the table, leaning her head against her paw as Nick busied himself in his living room, fluffing up a few of the pillows before his mother came to visit. The tod stood up, smiling as he looked around. Everything appeared to be in place and the pair had spent the majority of the morning preparing for her visit. It wasn’t often they could spend the day together, due to their hectic schedule as officers and his mother’s part time work as a nanny.

“There, I think we’re ready, Fluff.” Nick looked behind him to see Judy staring at nothing in particular. “You alright?”

“Do you ever wonder what it would be like if we had kits?”

Quiet filled the room, Nick stunned into reverie for quite some time as Judy continued looking forward. The stillness was finally broken as Nick took a seat next to Judy. “That’s uh…that was quite a bombshell dropped there. Do you mean you want some now or…?”

Judy shook her head. “We’re not married yet, Nick, so not right now. I just…with all we are doing to prepare for your mother visiting, it just made me think of what we might have someday and...it’s got me thinking.”

“Hopefully not thinking too much on it?” Nick asked in a pleading voice as he gripped her paw in his. “You uh, know that we still have a ways to go before we should even be thinking about this.”

His fingers rubbed her smaller paw, bringing a smile to her lips as they passed over her engagement ring. “Yeah, but a bunny can wonder what an adorable little Nick Junior would look like, right?”

Nick laughed out loud. “Oh, if you want to see that, just ask my mom. I’m sure she’d be happy to bring over my baby photo album.” Nick inwardly cringed. “In fact, I’m going to hate myself for this, I’m sure of it…” Nick stood from the table, his phone already in paw as he started pacing. Judy watched in amusement as he spoke to his mother, sending a smirk her way when he asked if his mother could bring over his baby album. Judy swore she could almost hear the shrill ‘eeek’ of delight from the vixen.

Once Nick had hung up, and cleaned out his ears, much to Judy’s amused giggle, he pulled up a chair next to Judy once more. Seemingly un-content, though, the tod scooped up a now very giggling bunny and jumped onto their sofa, moving swiftly into their regular cuddling positions.

A few lazy moments went by, the pair lay on the couch, content with the contact and warmth each other provided, before Nick spoke up again.

“So, you really want to have kits one day then, Judy?”

She thought about the question, letting the seconds tick by before nodding. “Like you said, not now, but yes, in the future I…I think it would be nice to have some with you.” She turned to face him, smiling as she brushed his cheek. “I mean, we can only make the world a better place so much by ourselves. Just imagine what a couple more of us could do.”

Nick’s chest rumbled from his deep-throated chuckle, sending pleasant vibrations through Judy as he squeezed her tightly against him. “Always thinking of helping others, aren’t ya.”

“Yep!” she said cheerfully, snuggling deeper into his arms while thinking of what a little Nick would look like. “Yes I am…”

* * *

The visit went off without a hitch. Mama Wilde dropped by, and as promised, with several baby albums within a wheeled carrier behind her. It had taken her and Judy nearly three hours to go through each and every picture, as Marian was more than happy to share the stories behind each one…

…no matter how humiliating they were to the tod grumbling good-naturedly behind them.

After the pictures, the three mammals shared a lovely dinner, a half and half casserole, one side chicken, the other carrot, and shared stories of their most recent adventures. After a few more hours of carefree talking and warm laughter, Marian finally had to leave. She gave her son a quick kiss on his cheek and a hug, asking him to call her more often, before she turned to Judy.

“Now Judy,” she began, clasping the doe’s paws in her own. “I can only imagine why you had my son make me bring over all his baby albums, or even how you convinced him of that, but…” she looked deeply into Judy’s eyes, watching her reaction closely. “Don’t get any ideas about kits right now. Wait until marriage, you got that? Just let it be a dream for now.”

Judy smiled. “Don’t worry, Marian.” She cast a glance at Nick before looking back at the vixen. “We won’t be having any kits anytime soon…even if little Nick looked so adorably cute in that blue onesie.”

Nick rolled his eyes. “Always with the cute, never with the handsome.”

The two females laughed, embracing before Marian waved goodbye and left the apartment.

Looking at the time, Judy decided it was about time she left as well. So with their own goodbye of a shared, loving embrace, a heart-warming kiss, and the oft-repeated offer to walk her home with Judy declining again, the bunny waved goodbye and started her five second trek to her apartment next door to Nick’s.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to walk ya home, Carrots?” Nick yelled towards the doe who stood perhaps fifteen feet away, cupping his paws around his muzzle for added effect.

She laughed and shook her head. “I think I’m good, Slick. Goodnight…handsome.”

She closed the door with only a fleeting look back, noticing Nick’s tail wagging and beaming grin upon his face before facing her austere apartment. The quiet was inviting after such a long day with her fiancée and his mother, but…she couldn’t help shake the feeling of emptiness it also held without them there.

Shrugging off the feeling, she got to work cleaning what she needed to do in her own living area, starting a load of laundry before eating a light snack as she folded her clothes. As her clock showed 9pm, Judy flopped into her bed, snuggling with a red fox plushie Nick had given her. Setting her alarm for 5:30am and settling in for a good night’s sleep, Judy quietly slipped off into dreamland with a vision of her and Nick playing with an adorable fox kit of their own.

Little did she know that the universe seemed to agree with her sentiments. A buzzing, a hum…a noise seamlessly flowed through the air, crackling with energy yet going unseen and unfelt by all.

The static charge ruptured the sky, filling the eternities with a single flicker of intense light, before fleeing away as quickly as it came. For those who caught the briefest flicker of light, they summed it up to an errant lightning strike…a storm that would have no affect on them.

Yet all time changed.

* * *

Judy awoke with a bright smile, eyes flicking open to turn off her alarm. Her paw swatted, only for it to miss completely, instead slapping the bedside stand. “Ooooohh!!” Judy shook her paw, now fully awake as she glared at her nightstand, only to blink in confusion when she didn’t see it.

“That’s…odd…” Her muttering was cut off when she noticed the bed sheets covering her.

They weren’t hers.

_That’s really bad!_

Ears bolted upright nearly as quickly as she did in the bed that she was quickly realizing was not hers. Eyes searched the room she found herself in, finding almost none of it recognizable. Panic finally set in as she realized she had nothing with her either apart from the flannel pajama set she currently wore. She tore from the bed in a frenzy, ears keeping track for movement outside the room while she searched for anything to tell her where she could be. Drawers were yanked open, contents searched, only to find two sized sets of clothing in each one. In the lowest of drawers of a nearby dresser, she breathed out a sigh of relief upon finding a familiar set of gaudy pawaiian themed shirts.

_I must be in Nick’s extra bedroom._

Judy shut the drawer, breathing in a heavy sigh of relief as her shoulders relaxed. “Okay Judy, you’re in Nick’s extra room, but why are you in these pajamas?” Her paw pulled at the comfortable fabric. “And since when do I wear flannel to bed? And where are my clothes?”

So many questions pounded on her mind that a headache was quickly forming. “Think…think…what were you doing last night? You didn’t drink anything, and spent the day with Marian and Nick. Then laundry…”

Her foot began thumping the carpeted floor, the soft, ‘whoomph whoomph’ annoying her already disturbed and frantic mind. With a final strong thump, she stopped, breathing deeply to try to relax. “You’re going for detective, Judy, so what can you assess from the situation and how you got here.”

She took her time, more carefully, and slowly, to search the room. She’d never been in Nick’s extra room before, so she didn’t know what it looked like. Though she was starting to get slightly creeped out by the fact that many of the drawers contained bunny sized clothing, and slightly more off-put when she found the underwear drawer and the lacy things inside it.

The worst part was all the pants, shirts and… _other things,_ were in her size. Judy would have to have a word with Nick after this if he was collecting all these clothes for whatever reason he had to do so. She left the bedroom, walking down the hall with her mind made up to figure out how Nick had pranked her and gotten her from her apartment to his without waking her, when she slowed.

If this was a prank, it sure was elaborate.

Judy’s gaze caught a photograph hanging from the wall. “It can’t be…”

There, inside the glass, was a picture of her, Nick, and a little red fox kit standing between them. Red fur, purple eyes and a black tipped tail and ears, alongside a grin that was all too familiar to Judy were all on display. A little plaque beneath the picture simply read, “Wilde-Hopps Family.”

Her paw covered her gasp, her mind reeling from the simple family photo. _He looks just like Nick._ Her other paw went out to touch the photo, drawing over it as she felt tears pooling at the edge of her eyes.

_Is this a dream? The future? What is this?_

“Mama, what cha doing?”

Judy nearly froze, her body moving glacially slow as she turned to face the new voice calling, her? There, standing in front of her, rubbing his eyes but with a smile on his tired, but awakening, face, was a little fox kit no older than five. As she looked at him, he smiled and giggled.

“Hey Mama, can you make Eggo’s for breakfast again? With the blueberries?”

Judy caught the hiccup in her throat as she bent down on one knee. The kit, without hesitating, unknowing of Judy’s shock, ran up to her and gave her a hug. Her paws hovered by his sides, before she gently patted his back.

“Mama, why you crying? You okay?”

She wiped at her eyes, laughing slightly while nodding. “Yes, uh. Mama’s uh…Mama’s fine, dear.”

The kit dug in his pocket before producing a tiny stuffed dinosaur. ”Maybe Rexy will make you feel better?”

Judy smiled and took the small plushie. “Thank you.” She rose from her knee, putting the dinosaur plush into her pajama pocket, before offering a paw to the kit only a little shorter than herself now. “Now let’s go get you those pancakes.”

Making him pancakes wasn’t as easy as she thought it would be.

She still didn’t know what she suddenly found herself in; if she was still asleep or whatever was happening though one thing was for certain, she had a lot of issues with finding everything from the pan to the pancake mix. Michael, the adorable little kit would remind her with a giggle of where each item was, with Judy rewarding him with a blueberry from the fridge for every correct answer. The blueberries were about the only thing she could find to be honest, but with a blueberry as a reward, Michael was pointing out everything for her. Soon enough, they had a stack of blueberry pancakes between them, the kit happily munching away as Judy asked him questions.

She still needed to figure out where, or when, she was, after all.

Her mind was a torrent of thoughts as the kit easily opened up to her. He had just turned four, had the best mommy and daddy in the world, loved blueberries, and was wondering why mommy was asking him so many questions.

Unable to get too many good answers out of the kit, Judy accepted the few answers he gave as she washed the dishes in the sink. She still had no idea what had happened to her. A quick view out the window, as well as from the window down the hall of their floor revealed that this was the exact apartment where Nick lived, and that the two had agreed to share once married. There was no way that view of eastern Savannah Central could have been faked or recreated in a large warehouse or anywhere else.

The kit was also proof that something about this was real, as she’d found growing up around 250 plus siblings that kits were poor liars. Even if Michael was the son of a former hustler like Nick, not that Judy was ready to accept that fact she and Nick were married and had a son in..wherever she was, she was sure she’d be able to tell if he was lying to her or not.

In the end, after nearly an hour of dish duty and silently walking around, Judy came to the conclusion that _something_ had happened last night, she just wasn’t sure what. She didn’t _feel_ any different, yet…

_BRRRING…BRRRING…_

Judy jumped, the sound of a telephone interrupting her thoughts as she quickly scurried about the apartment to find it, her ears leading her swiftly to the source. The bunny smiled as she saw Nick’s picture on the screen of the iCarrot.

“Perfect, now I’ll finally get some answers,” she spoke before accepting the call.

“Hey Judy.” The smiling face of Nick appeared on the screen, the hubbub behind him recognizable as the main office area of Precinct One where their cubicles were. “How’s our baby carrot doing? Treating you well today?”

The doe nodded. “Yeah, he’s been perfectly fine. Just wanted pancakes for breakfast today.”

“With the blueberries?”

Another nod. “Yep.”

Nick chuckled. “That’s our son.” His smile shifted to a smirk she knew well. “So, remember how yesterday I told you Bogo wanted to see me?”

Even though she had no memory of that comment, Judy nodded. “Sure.” _Maybe this might help me figure out what’s going on…_

“Well…” Nick began, panning the phone around to show a large box on his desk packed with what looked like his personal items. A cold wash of dread sent a shiver down her spine.

“Did he fire you?” Judy shouted, panicking. “He can’t fire you! I’m going to head right down there and make sure-”

“Woah, woah, woah, easy on the carrot train,” Nick said with an easy laugh. “Is your favorite husband getting a new position as a detective? Yes, yes he is.”

Even if this wasn’t real, Judy’s smile wasn’t faked. “Really! That’s great news, Nick! It’s going to be amazing to serve with you as a detective.”

Nick blinked. “I uh…I thought you said you wanted to stay home and take care of Michael?”

“Huh?” Judy was confused as Nick continued.

“Yeah, you said you didn’t want to have him go through bad experiences in pre-school or with a sitter. So you resigned when he was born.”

Judy nervously chuckled. “Oh yeah, sorry…haha. I did say that. Yeah…sorry, I was just…excited for you and just thought about the good ole’ days, fighting crime together, you know?”

Nick nodded slowly. “Right…anywho,” his nervous smile was quickly replaced by a genuine one. “When I get home, I figure we can go celebrate. Go get something nice for the three of us. Maybe visit Lucille while we’re at it.”

“Right, that sounds like a plan.”

Another nervous smile from the tod. “Say, Judy…you feeling okay?”

“Right as rain,” she replied, before her ears flopped behind her back as Nick stared intensely at her. “Okay, today’s been a bit of an off day. I’m not feeling myself…”

 _Ain’t that the truth…_ she whispered to herself.

Nick’s features changed of one to concern. “Should we check with Doc Brown to see if your symptoms are coming back?”

Judy blinked. “Uh…no. I think we’re good…” she stated slowly…deliberately.

Nick stared at her picture in the phone with an intense gaze. “You sure?”

Judy nodded.

“So, should I bring home the peanut brittle or carrot cake ice cream?”

Judy blinked. “Uh, I think we’re good on both of those? I’d have to-“

“Nevermind.” Nick cut her off with a smile. “I’ve got work to do so I’ll catch you later.”

“Alright, bye Nick.” The line disconnected, leaving a confused Judy standing in the living room, and Nick with his thoughts at the precinct.

“What was that about?” Judy wondered as she placed the phone down.

 _That wasn’t Judy…_ Nick though as he tapped his claws against the desk, his mind surging from thought to thought. Finally, his mind made up, he grabbed his coat. “Hey McHorn, I’m heading home for lunch to check on little Nick.”

“Sure thing, Wilde,” the rhino grunted. “And see if you can get Judy to visit sometime. It’s been years since we’ve seen her here.”

“Will do, bud,” Nick said with a wave before staring blankly ahead. “Will do.”

* * *

“Hey Judy, I’m home!” Nick shouted into the room, one paw hidden within his ZPD issued jacket with the pawcuffs hidden within.

He hoped he didn’t have to use them.

Hearing the shout, Judy came out from the bedroom, as well as Michael, who ran from his room with the shouts of, “Daddy!”

“Hey!” Judy watched as Nick opened his arms wide, scooping Michael up and giving him a big hug. “How’s my favorite fox doing?”

The kit smiled. “Good! I made you a present!”

“You did?” The kit then nodded as Nick smiled and placed him on the ground. “What is it?”

“It’s a surprise!” Michael yelled enthusiastically. “I’ll go get it.”

“Alright, though could that wait a few minutes? Mommy and I have to talk with each other a bit.”

Judy saw the kit nod before sprinting past her to his bedroom. “Hey Nick,” she began, walking towards him. “How was work?”

“Good, good,” he replied. “Forgot some things in the bedroom for the new office.” He motioned for her to follow him, and she picked up right behind him. “So, Carol at the precinct wanted to thank you for those muffins you dropped off last week.”

Judy stiffened; glad she was behind Nick at the time. She knew what he was doing. She’d taken the same courses in interrogation at the academy he had. He knew something was up, so she hmmed a response, wondering how she could talk to Nick about…whatever had happened to her.

They reached the bedroom and Nick waved his paw before him, letting her pass before he shut the door. “Okay, I’m not sure what is going on. You look like my wife, smell like my wife, act, smile and sound like my wife…” He leaned back against the wall. “But you aren’t Judy. What did you do to her?”

“Nick, I…” Judy began, only to be cut off.

“It’s Officer Wilde.”

“But Nick, it is me!” Judy exclaimed, waving her paws to her side. “I don’t know what happened. I was in my bed…”

“Our bed…”

“And woke up and found all this. I thought I was in my apartment.”

“This is our apartment.”

“I don’t know, okay?!” Judy shouted. She looked at Nick and was going to continue when she noticed the pawcuffs now dangling off one paw as he took a step towards her.

“Now let’s just make this simple. I don’t want Michael to see an impersonator looking like his mother in cuffs.”

“Nick, stop. It’s me,” Judy pled as she took a step backwards, finding herself against the wall. “Come on, Nick!” Judy was panicking internally as he approached. As he reached just a step away, she darted to the side. “Nick, it’s me, Judy! I can explain!”

She jumped again as he reached for her, finding her back against the bed now. She looked behind her, feeling trapped when she felt cold iron grip her right paw.

Truly panicking now, she scrambled to get away, only for Nick to pull her back towards her, trying to bring her down to the floor. Judy let out a grunt as she hip tossed him over her. With Nick temporarily stunned by her move, Judy made to get space between them before his paw caught her foot. She fell forward, the cabinet at the foot of the bed coming quickly into view before her head cracked against it, and all went black.

* * *

Judy woke up, panting heavily and breathing hard in a dark room. Her paws frantically patted her body and head, feeling for any bruising on her arm from the cuffs or bump on her head. When she felt none, she eyed the room, with barely enough light to see around her.

It was her bedroom.

 _Her_ bedroom.

She let herself fall back against her headboard, breathing deeply…nervously. “It was only a dream. It was only a dream.” Her nervousness turning to mirth and finally she broke down and giggled; which quickly turned to laughter. “It was all a dream!” She shouted, relief flooding over her body and making her feel more at ease.

The bunny thought it funny she was so relieved to not be married to Nick and have a kit, as that was just the dream she was talking about with him…she looked at the clock…yesterday.

“Whew…” She breathed out another sigh of relief. She was glad it was a dream, no matter how cute Michael was. Just the thought of her missing all those moments of his growing up went a shiver through her. She wouldn’t want to miss any of that for the world.

Her mind dwelt on the now rapidly disappearing memories, wondering if maybe that was what life had in store for Nick and her. Could she give up her job, just like that, to take care of a kit? She knew some of her sisters with successful careers that had done just that when they’d had their first litter, so…who knows.

That day would come, but it was not today.

Judy relaxed more, seeing the clock tick past 3:30am. That dream….it _felt so real._ She shook her head, grateful that they were just a dream and rolled onto her side.

She froze, adjusting slowly back into a sitting position while digging tentatively into the pocket of her pajamas.

A cry of terror caught in her throat as tiny, patched-up dinosaur plushie stared back at her in the darkness.


End file.
